Key Contacts
Trump Announced Appointments to Key Environmental Positions
EPA:
Administrator
Lee Zeldin has been tapped as EPA Administrator, previously serving as a representative to Congress from Long Island, New York. He does not have extensive environmental experience but is known as an advocate of deregulation and it is anticipated that he may seek roll back of some of the clean energy initiatives in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Deputy Administrator
David Fotouhi, a litigator, has been nominated to be Deputy Administrator of the EPA. Fotouhi served in various counsel positions at the EPA during the first Trump administration and was involved in many of the high-profile environmental matters that came before the courts, including the Clean Power Plan and the WOTUS rule. After leaving the administration, he returned to the litigation group at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.
Interior:
Secretary
Doug Bergum is the former Governor of North Dakota, the third largest oil and natural gas producing state, serving from 2016 until 2024. As Governor, Burgum set a goal for North Dakota to be carbon-neutral by 2030. He was an advisor to the Trump campaign on energy policy and is a strong supporter of the fossil fuel industry. There may be an uptick in oil and gas leasing on public lands, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, under his auspices.
Deputy Secretary
Katharine MacGregor has been slated to return to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Interior, which she held during the final year of the first Trump administration. Most recently, she has been serving as Vice President of Environmental Services for NextEra Energy, the world's largest generator of solar and wind energy, headquartered in Florida.
Energy:
Secretary
Chris Wright is the CEO of Liberty Energy, the second largest hydraulic fracturing company in the country. Like other appointees, Wright believes in reliance on fossil fuels for energy independence. While acknowledging that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change, he believes that the consequences of warming trends are neither dire nor immediate and can be addressed without imposing new regulatory burdens on businesses. Most recently he testified against SEC rules requiring the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change risks.
Deputy Secretary
James Danly served in numerous positions at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) during the first Trump administration, including chair of FERC. Since that time, he has been leading Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP’s Energy Regulatory Group.
Attorney General
Pam Bondi was the Florida Attorney General until 2019 and served on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial. In her capacity as Florida’s Attorney General she signed on to challenges of several Obama-era regulations, including the August 2015 Clean Power Plan and the June 2015 WOTUS Rule.
